


Pr1d3 4nd Pr3jud1c3

by angelatwell



Category: Pride and Prejudice (1995), Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
Genre: (or lack thereof in some cases), Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dancing, Everyone Is Gay, F/M, Gossip, Men Get Pegged, Texting, a lot of gossip, according to charlotte (she's right tho), group chats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-02-26 13:28:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18718006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelatwell/pseuds/angelatwell
Summary: It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a college education.





	1. A #SinglePringle Of A Rich Man

**Author's Note:**

> Wrow guess which lazy hoe finally wrote something (it's this lazy hoe). If u can't tell by the title and the summary, this is a Pride And Prejudice college AU, bc whenever I want to write something, my brain always says "college AU" despite me not having been to college yet lmao. Anyway, onto actually relevant information:
> 
> Bc it would be dodgy, to say the least, if everyone hated the Bennets bc they're poor, everyone just hates them bc they're crazy lmao. I couldn't think of any better reason im sorry
> 
> In fact, at least 90% of my excuses for things in this fic are ridiculous. Please bear with me akdjsjdks I tried
> 
> Mr Bennet doesn't exist bc I hate him. On this subject I have nothing more to say and no other apology to offer
> 
> There are only two (2) straight people in this whole fic, and they're Lydia and Wickham
> 
> Speaking of Wickham, I have nO idea how to deal with that whole Georgiana and Lydia situation. Bls leave advice in the comments or hmu on my [Tumblr](http://angelatwell.tumblr.com)
> 
> SpEAKING OF TUMBLR, I just wanna shamelessly self-promote my [P&P sideblog](http://darcylizzy.tumblr.com)
> 
> Thanks to my friend [Milana](http://buddythor.tumblr.com) for helping me with plotholes I was stuck on throughout this fic!! Ur honestly a lifesaver
> 
> Okay now here's the fic kdjajdjaja

“OH, GIRLS, GIRLS! YOU WON’T BELIEVE THE GOOD NEWS!!!”

 

This announcement echoed through the Bennet house at around 5 PM on a Saturday evening. Mrs Bennet had just come back from her job at the hairdresser’s, and although she always came back bearing gossip, it was typically something insignificant. However, this was not the case today.

 

The shrill voice of their mother caused the five Bennet sisters to leave the various corners of the house they were scattered in, and come into the entrance area by the front door, where the shriek had come from.

 

“What is it, Mama?” asked Jane.

 

“You all know that big old empty house down the street, Netherfield?” Mrs Bennet began to explain, walking towards the living room as she spoke, followed by her daughters.

 

They all answered that they did, so she continued, “Well, someone is moving in, at last! The new resident is a _very_ rich young man, from the north of England. A very rich, very _single_ young man!! His name is Bingley, and he’s arriving this very evening!! What a fine thing for you girls!”

 

“How so? Er, how can it affect us?” asked Mary.

 

“Oh, Mary, how can you be so tiresome?? You must know that I’m thinking of his marrying one of you!”

 

“Because every rich, single man _must_ want a wife,” Elizabeth commented, sarcastically. 

 

“Yes, exactly!” Mrs Bennet agreed, picking up on Lizzy’s tone, but choosing to ignore it. “And who better, than one of you five girls?” As an afterthought, she added, “Well, three, I suppose.” 

 

Mary and Kitty were lesbians.

 

“It would be such a good joke, if he chose me!” Lydia giggled. 

 

“It would be an even better one if he chose me!” followed Kitty, also laughing. 

 

“And that is his purpose in life, to marry one of us?” Elizabeth enquired, in a playful tone. 

 

“’Purpose in life’?! Oh, how can you say such nonsense?! But it’s very likely that he might fall in love with one of you, and therefore, we have to visit him as soon as possible, tomorrow afternoon would be ideal, just to give him a little time to settle in. Oh! And we should bring some of our lovely homemade muffins, that will give an excellent first impression!”

 

“But Mama, we ran out of flour last week, and we haven’t bought more yet. And all the shops are closed for the day, and they’ll be closed tomorrow as well,” Jane pointed out, as gently as possible.

 

The shops in their town typically didn’t open on Sundays, a fact which Mrs Bennet had forgotten in her excitement, and her face faltered when Jane reminded her of it. “Oh dear, I do believe you're right! Oh, girls! What do we do now?! If we take too long to visit, someone else will get to him first!”

 

“Are the muffins really necessary? We could always go without them,” suggested Kitty, trying to be helpful.

 

“No, no, of course we can’t! What will he think of us, turning up empty handed?! I can’t believe you would even _suggest_ it! It would be better to not visit at all!!”

 

“Which seems like what we'll be doing, anyway,” Elizabeth pointed out.

 

Their mother wailed.

 

“Bad luck, we are told, is sent to test us, and may often reveal itself as a blessing in disguise!” Mary piped up, optimistically.

 

Lydia rolled her eyes at this statement, and collapsed onto one of the couches. “Oh my god, I’m so hungry!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later, once everyone else had gone to bed, Elizabeth was perched on Jane's bed, as Jane brushed her hair. The room was quiet, save for the soft scratchy-type noises when the hairbrush ran through Jane’s thick locks, until Lizzy broke the silence. 

 

“I wish I had a girlfriend.”

 

“Yes,” Jane agreed, idly.

 

“Although, someone willing to put up with our crazy family couldn’t be very smart, and you know I could never love someone without a brain.”

 

Jane giggled. “Oh, Lizzy.” She paused for a moment, fidgeting with her brush, before continuing, “A relationship where one partner cannot love or respect the other… that can’t be very nice, to either party.”

 

“Yes, I’m sure,” Elizabeth scoffed. “But you know, beggars can’t be choosers.”

 

“Our family isn’t so bad, Lizzy,” Jane pointed out, turning around to face her sister, with a smile.

 

“From an inside perspective, maybe. But for a stranger? Not so much. However, I have a theory that if one of us just scores a rich spouse like Mama wants us to, she _might_ just quiet down a little, which will be half the problem solved. And since you’re at least five times as pretty as the rest of us, and have the sweetest personality, I’m afraid the burden may fall on you.”

 

“Lizzy, you know I want to marry for love.”

 

“And you will, I’m sure.” Lizzy said, getting off Jane's bed, and leaning on the back of her chair, resting her head atop her sister's. “Just take care that you fall in love with someone rich.”

 

Jane giggled. “I’ll try, for you.” She looked up at Elizabeth. “And you?”

 

Elizabeth thought for a moment. “I’m determined to never get married, until I fall in the very _deepest_ love.” 

 

There was a short pause, before Elizabeth grew uncomfortable with the serious note that the conversation had ended on, and she added, “So… I guess I’ll just be the weird, unmarried aunt who causes trouble at family gatherings, and teach your _ten_ children how to sneak food into the movies, and play the recorder very badly!”

 

They laughed for a couple seconds, before Elizabeth kissed the top of Jane’s head, and left, for her own room.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The next day, Elizabeth was wandering around the local park, looking for dogs to pet, when she spotted her three younger sisters walking down the road. Lydia and Kitty were waving aggressively at her, so she waved back.

 

“Lizzy! Wait till you hear our news!!” yelled Lydia, excitedly.

 

Lizzy did not hear the news right away, as Kitty and Lydia wanted to tell Jane and their mother, too. Once they arrived at home, the entire household congregated in the living room, to listen to what they had to say. 

 

“Mr Bingley has moved into Netherfield!” 

 

“And Mr Lucas has visited him!”

 

“I don’t want to know,” Mrs Bennet said, indignantly. “Why should we care about Mr Bingley, since we’re never going to know him?”

 

“But, Mama!” Lydia pleaded. As she spoke, Kitty began to cough, which seemed to distress Mrs Bennet even more.

 

“Don’t keep coughing so much, Kitty, for heaven’s sake! Have a little compassion on my nerves!”

 

“I’m not coughing for fun!” Kitty protested. However, her argument was drowned out, by Lydia continuing, 

 

“He is very, very handsome, and wears a blue jacket!!”

 

“And he told Mr Lucas that he loves to dance!” Kitty provided.

 

“And he’s promised to come to the next party in the neighbourhood!”

 

“At the Lucases’ house!”

 

“On Saturday!”

 

“And bring _ten_ people!”

 

Lydia turned to her sister, confused. “No, it was nineteen people, wasn’t it?”

 

“Oh, girls, I beg you to stop! We are never going to know Mr Bingley, and it pains me to hear about him!” Mrs Bennet cried.

 

“But, Mama—” Lydia tried to protest, but was cut off with,

 

“I am sick of Mr Bingley!!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Mrs Bennet was, of course, being needlessly dramatic. The next day, they bought flour, made their muffins, and Mrs Bennet paid a visit to Netherfield. She thought she would seem too obviously desperate if she brought her daughters on the first visit, so she opted to go alone.

 

Her visit wasn’t long, as she got off work at five, it took them half an hour to make the muffins, and she had wanted to be back home by six. However, the length of the visit did nothing to dampen her spirits. She had found, in the short time that she was there, that Mr Bingley was incredibly polite, cheerful, handsome, rich, of course, and all-round, a perfect husband for one of her pathetically single daughters, and from the moment Mrs Bennet got home, to the moment her daughters left for the party on Saturday, they could scarce go ten minutes without hearing these praises from their mother’s mouth. 

 

The second they left the house was bliss.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mrs Bennet isn't going to the party bc she has beef with Lady Lucas, which is said in the next chapter but I'm only uploading that next week so I didn't wanna leave u guys in the dark lmao.
> 
> I have two chapters after this done, which I'll post once a week, but after that the time between each chapter will probably be,,,, a lot bc I'm the slowest writer in the world akdjshdh sorry
> 
> Comments are always appreciated so please don't feel shy to leave one!!!!


	2. The Mean Man In The Gucci Jacket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so, I was originally going to post this tomorrow, but my dumb brain decided it wanted attention NOW so you're getting it today ig. Anyway, here's the tEA about the Bingleys in this fic:
> 
> I know that Bingley is canonically the middle child, but in this fic he's the youngest bc I wrote it and can do whatever I want. He is babie 
> 
> Caroline and Louisa are both LESBANIMS 
> 
> That is all. Enjoy the chapter

The party was great, as the Lucases’ parties usually were. They loved company, so whenever there was any sort of social gathering at their house, it was excellent.

 

Mrs Bennet had not come tonight, which came as a huge relief to all her daughters. She had had an argument with Mrs Lucas a few days before, and still hadn’t made up, so didn’t want to see her. But she cautioned her daughters numerous times, before they left, to make a good first impression on Mr Bingley.

 

Elizabeth was dancing at the moment, joined by Kitty and Lydia. Jane and Mary were eating food and talking with Charlotte, the Lucases’ oldest daughter, and Elizabeth's best friend. 

 

But suddenly, the door opened, and everyone’s heads turned. Standing in the doorway were four people, two men and two women. Elizabeth could only assume that one of the men was Mr Bingley, and based on her mother’s description, he was the one with curly blond hair, greyish blue eyes, and freckles dotting the area around his nose. 

 

The other man’s appearance was practically the opposite, especially in expression. Mr Bingley was smiling like a child on Christmas morning, while this man looked like a mix of uncomfortable, disgusted, scared and sulky. He was also standing a little behind the rest of the group, as though trying to hide.

 

The girls’ reactions upon entering the room were still different from either. They looked mostly bored, with a hint of distaste. They were also dressed much too fancy for a casual party, and Lizzy had already decided that she didn’t like them.

 

After a few moments, Charlotte’s father approached, welcoming them to the party. They responded in thanks, and the everyone soon got back to enjoying themselves.

 

Elizabeth quickly stepped off of the dance floor as people began dancing again, making her way over to her sisters, and Charlotte.

 

“Looks like he only brought three people, after all. Do you know who they are, Charlotte?” Lizzy asked, placing herself in between Jane and Mary.

 

“The women are Mr Bingley’s sisters, Caroline and Louisa,” Charlotte answered, helpfully, pointing them each out as she spoke. “The other man is his friend, Fitzwilliam Darcy.”

 

“’Fitzwilliam’?” Elizabeth snickered. “Who names their child Fitzwilliam??”

 

“Rich people, I suppose,” Charlotte responded.

 

“They all seem very elegant,” Jane commented, her voice tinted with awe. 

 

Elizabeth scoffed. “Better pleased with themselves, than what they see, I think.” 

 

Just as she finished her sentence, they noticed that Charlotte’s dad and Mr Bingley were approaching.

 

“Hello, girls,” Mr Lucas greeted, with a smile. “This is Mr Bingley, I was just taking him around the room and introducing everyone. Mr Bingley, this is my daughter, Charlotte, and this is Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, and Mary Bennet.” 

 

“Hello, it’s very good to meet you all!” Mr Bingley said, equally as smilingly as Mr Lucas.

 

He shook each girl's hand, but seemed to linger longer on Jane. Elizabeth noticed, and flashed her a smirk, as soon as Mr Lucas took Mr Bingley away to meet the next cluster of people. 

 

The girls continued chatting for a few minutes, but Charlotte and Mary soon left the group, leaving only Jane and Elizabeth. However, this didn’t last long either, because a couple minutes later, Mr Bingley, having finished his introductions, was coming over to speak to them. 

 

“Hello,” he greeted, with a warm smile, once he was at an appropriate distance to begin a conversation.

 

Elizabeth smiled back. “Hey!” 

 

“Hi,” Jane followed.

 

“So…” he continued, “Elizabeth and Jane, was it?”

 

Elizabeth nodded. “But please, Mr Bingley, just call me Lizzy, everyone does.”

 

“Alright, Lizzy. You can just call me Bingley or Charles, too. The ‘Mr’ really isn’t necessary,” he assured, with a laugh.

 

“Well, if you insist.” 

 

At this point, Lizzy noticed that Darcy was standing behind Bingley. She didn’t know how long he’d been there, but she wished to find out more about him. She'd been lightly observing him for the short time that he and his friends had been there, and noticed that he’d been hanging out with Bingley’s sisters, whom she had already determined to be A-grade snobs, for all the time up till now, and wondered whether or not he was at all like them. Otherwise, it was possible he was just shy. Either way, she figured the best way to find out was to get an introduction, first of all.

 

“So, is this your friend?” 

 

Bingley looked confused for a second, before he turned around, and realised that Darcy was behind him. “Oh, yeah. Lizzy, Jane, this is Darcy. Darcy, this is Lizzy and Jane.” He nudged him forward a little, prompting him to say something.

 

Darcy was a little surprised (and annoyed) at being noticed, as he had hoped to hide behind Bingley the whole evening and not speak to anyone whatsoever, but greeted Jane and Elizabeth with a small wave. They both returned the gesture.

 

“Hi, Darcy,” Lizzy chirped, “are you enjoying the party so far?”

 

“I suppose it’s been okay.”

 

“Oh well, I’m sure you would like it better if you were doing something more fun than just standing there. This song is quite nice, why don’t you try dancing a bit?”

 

“Um, I rarely dance.”

 

“I guess that’s fair. But maybe just this once? I promise we won't judge if you’re bad at it.”

 

“I’m sure,” Darcy murmured, irritably. Lizzy had no window to say anything more, before he hurried back over to Bingley’s sisters.

 

Bingley watched him leave with a half-disappointed, half-embarrassed expression. “Sorry, he’s a little shy. I’m sure he’ll warm up to you soon, though.”

 

Elizabeth wasn’t sure she wanted that. However, she didn’t have time to reflect, because Bingley began speaking again.

 

“But, uh, on the subject of dancing, that’s actually what I came over here for.” He looked at the floor, with a slight blush, before looking back up, and continuing, “Um, Jane, would— would you like to, uh, dance with me?”

 

Jane blushed, surprised, and Bingley hastily added, 

 

“It's— it’s okay if you don’t want to, I completely understand— God, that’s such a weird thing to ask a stranger, isn’t it?— So, yeah, if you don’t want to, it’s absolutely—”

 

At this point, he was interrupted by Jane. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. As it so happens, I’d be very happy to dance with you.”

 

Bingley grinned. “Oh! Well, that’s good, I suppose.” He then seemed to realise something, and looked back over at Darcy. “Hey, uh, I actually gotta go tell Darcy how rude it was to just walk away like that, I’ll meet you at the dance floor, yeah?”

 

Jane nodded. As soon as his back was turned, she turned to look at Lizzy, for feedback. 

 

Lizzy waggled her eyebrows. “Well, better get a move on, Juliet.”

 

“Oh, Lizzy,” Jane scolded, but as it was issued with a wide smile, and a still-lingering blush, Elizabeth didn't take it very seriously, and gave her a light push in the direction of the dance floor. She went.

 

Now that Elizabeth was alone, she could give herself deeper insight into the characters of these newcomers.

 

As little disposed as Lizzy was to think well of random men who recommended themselves to women they’d never met before, she had to acknowledge that Bingley seemed to be pleasantness itself, and she could file no complaints against him. Of course, it was still possible he had terrible flaws which were not yet revealed, but he was in the clear for now.

 

Darcy, however, was another story. If it was true that he was just shy, then she could understand, but she truly doubted that that was the worst of his faults. Watching him talk to Bingley’s sisters, she bitterly supposed that they were talking badly about her, and probably all her friends. 

 

Either way, she decided to put him out of her head, and go join her sister, in dancing.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

After dancing almost non-stop for about forty-five minutes, Lizzy was sat down on a chair drinking some soda, just a little ways away from Darcy. She paid him no mind, until she noticed Bingley approaching him.

 

“Darcy, I came to tell you that you need to dance,” he explained, in as commanding a tone as he could muster.

 

“ _Need to,_ hmm?” Darcy replied, with perfect indifference.

 

“Yes, need to. I’d hate to see you standing against the wall all night, looking like a loser. Come, you’d much better dance!” he insisted, with a smile, and his best puppy dog eyes.

 

Darcy didn’t crack. “Absolutely not. You and your sisters are already dancing with other people right now, and it would be a punishment for me to dance with any other person in the room, everybody here is awful. And I’m definitely not going to dance by myself, I’d look like an idiot.”

 

Bingley sighed. “God, Darcy, you can be such a downer sometimes! Everybody here is so nice, you have literally no excuse.”

 

“You’re already dancing with the only pleasant-seeming person in the room.”

 

“Oh, yes, she’s wonderful. But look, her sister is sitting just over there, and she’s very pretty, and I’m sure even _you’ll_ find her very agreeable! Let me ask Jane to introduce you two.” 

 

Darcy glanced at Elizabeth.

 

“She’s tolerable, looks-wise, I suppose. But you know how much I detest dancing, when I don’t care for my partner, and she's not good enough. Go back to your partner, enjoy her smiles, because you’re wasting your time with me.”

 

Bingley rolled his eyes, before making his way back over to Jane.

 

Elizabeth could not believe what she had just heard! Her, ‘tolerable’?? ‘Not good enough’??? This was the funniest thing that had ever happened to her. She had to go tell everyone she knew immediately, and, following this notion, hurried over to the snack table to speak to Charlotte.

 

Darcy watched her as she got up, left, whispered something to her friend (while the two of them stared directly at him), and then they both began laughing.

 

Oh dear lord, what had he done? 

 

_“I’m never leaving the house again,”_ he thought to himself, before stalking away to go get a drink.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Besides the little hiccup of the ‘tolerable’ comment (which she found more amusing, than upsetting) Lizzy enjoyed herself at the party. She danced, chatted, laughed, and of course, enjoyed the free food. All-in-all, it was considered a success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm worried that I might have made Bingley too awkward but I really reeeaaaallllllyyyy didn't want him to come off as an entitled str8 man. So if he ever seems awkward during this fic just remember it's bc he drank a BIG glass of respect women juice!!!!
> 
> Also in case I didn't make it clear enough (which I don't think I did skdjsjfjs), the mean man in the Gucci jacket is Darcy. I didn't know where to say that he's wearing a Gucci jacket where it didn't sound weird and oddly specific, so here we are lmao
> 
> Please feel free to leave a comment if you have a question, liked the chapter, or just wanna say hi!!!


	3. The TL;DR Of The Party

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't rlly think of anything to put here except an apology for my bad writing lmao. Enjoyyy

 

After the girls got home, they talked on their group chat, containing all five of them, plus their mother, about the evening's events.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------

 

**Mama:** So, did you enjoy yourselves tonight? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

**Lizzy:** Mama please stop using that face

 

**Lizzy:** It doesn’t mean what you think it does 🤦♀

 

**Mama:** Of course it does, Lizzy. I asked Lydia and she said it was a smiley face, like this one :-), but more of a hip and cool one. I’m sure Lydia knows more about these things than you do.

 

**Lydia:** ur right 

 

**Lydia:** ignore lizzy she doesn’t kno wat she’s talking abt ;) 

 

**Lydia:** right kitty? 

 

**Kitty:** yeah

 

**Mama:** Anyway, your sisters tell me that Mr Bingley was with you the whole night, Jane! Please spill the tea ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

 

**Lizzy:** M a m a

 

**Jane:** Nothing much happened, I promise!! We just talked and danced :)

 

**Lizzy:** Pls Jane we all saw you making heart eyes at each other ajdjadja you aren’t fooling anyone 

 

**Jane:** Lizzy!!!!!!!

 

**Lizzy:** 😍😍😍😍

 

**Lydia:** uhhhh jane i just found his insta

 

**Lydia:** it’s ‘dancingqueen1998’ 

 

**Lydia:** u sure he isn’t gay?

 

**Jane:** Lydia it’s rude to stereotype :(

 

**Lydia:** eh 

 

**Jane:** He's bi :)

 

**Lydia:** oh well thats like the same thing right 

 

**Kitty:** no

 

**Lizzy:** No 

 

**Jane:** No :)

 

**Mary:** No.

 

**Lydia:** ok ok jeez 

 

**Lydia:** u kno its bad when mary talks

 

**Lydia:** mary y don’t u ever talk on this chat 

 

**Mary:** Because we never talk about anything interesting.

 

**Lydia:** ugh ur so boring

 

**Kitty:** OMG hjsjdkskda we gotta tell Mama how Lizzy got roastedddddd 

 

**Mama:** She got what? 

 

**Kitty:** roasted. it means insulted 

 

**Mama:** D-:<

 

**Mama:** By who??

 

**Kitty:** Mr Bingley brought this weeeeiiiirrrrddd friend to the party with him called Mr Darcy

 

**Kitty:** all he did was stand around 

 

**Kitty:** nobody liked him 

 

**Kitty:** and it was him 

 

**Kitty:** Mr Bingley suggested that he dance with Lizzy but he said she was “tolerable but not good enough” 

 

**Mama:** WOW. What a rude individual. I’m sorry, Lizzy!

 

**Lizzy:** It’s okay I didn't like him either lol. It’s probably for the best that the feeling is mutual 

 

**Mama:** If I were you, I wouldn’t dance with him even if he does ask you at some point.

 

**Lizzy:** Unlikely that he will 

 

**Lizzy:** But either way, I think I can safely promise you NEVER to dance with Mr Darcy :/

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The subjects of their gossip were, in fact, also discussing the night's events.

 

“So, none of these country people could impress you, Darcy?” Caroline asked, as she poured herself a cup of tea.

 

“Not even the Bennets, who we've heard so much about?” Louisa added.

 

Darcy had no time to answer, before Charles exclaimed, “Well, I’ve never met pleasanter people in my life!”

 

“Charles, you shock me. I don’t think any of them even learned manners in preschool. I mean, I suppose the oldest Bennet sister was pretty nice—”

 

“’Pretty nice’? Darcy, she’s an angel!”

 

“I wasn’t finished. She’s actually too nice.

 

Charles rolled his eyes.

 

“Oh, yes, Jane Bennet is a sweet girl,” Caroline piped up. “But I also heard people singing praises of her sister, Eliza. What do you think about that, Darcy? Do you think _she’s_ nice? Pretty? Good conversationalist?”

 

“I’d sooner call those two younger sisters of hers intelligent, than call her _any_ of those things.”

 

“Ooh, savage!” Caroline laughed.

 

Charles glared. “Darcy, I’ll never understand why you go through the world determined to be displeased with everything, and everyone, in it.”

 

“And I’ll never understand why _you’re_ always in such a rage to approve of everything and everyone that you meet,” Darcy countered, with a fond smile.

 

“Well, you _won’t_ make me think badly about Jane.”

 

Caroline nodded. “No, he won’t. And I too, am going to risk his disapproval, and declare that she is a dear, sweet girl, despite her unfortunate family and friends, and I’d really like to know her better.”

 

“So would I,” Louisa agreed. “See, Darcy? _We_ aren’t afraid of you.”

 

“I’d be very sorry if you were.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later in the night, Elizabeth and Jane were discussing the ball privately, in Jane's room, as there was more to be said than either one felt like typing out, what with its being twelve O’clock. 

 

“Bingley is just what all men should be, Lizzy. Sensible, lively, well mannered,” Jane observed, smiling at the memory of him.

 

“And he’s handsome, too, which a man should be, if he possibly can. And he seemed to like you very much, which shows good judgement. No, you have my blessing to like him, you’ve liked many people stupider.”

 

Jane giggled. “Oh, Lizzy.”

 

“He could have better choice in his sisters and friends, but the sisters, I suppose, he can’t help.”

 

“You didn’t like them?”

 

“Not at all! Their manners are very different from his. They were so cold and judgemental the whole time.”

 

“Yeah, they seemed like that at first, didn’t they? But after speaking to them for a while, they were very pleasant, and I’m sure that they’ll be wonderful neighbours.”

 

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, but made no other response.

 

“You know, even Darcy might be nicer to us, once we know him better.”

 

Now, Jane had gone too far. “ _Darcy_? Being nice to people who _aren’t good enough_?? Never!” She paused, before assuming a bitter expression, and saying, in a deep, mocking voice, “she is tolerable, I suppose. But she’s not good enough for _my_ impossible standards!”

 

“Okay,” Jane laughed, “it _was_ very rude of him to say that.”

 

“Indeed, it was a capital offence!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments r my fuel


	4. Instagram Stalking

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, I was supposed to post this last week, but the chapter still needed some last minute editing that I was too lazy to do at the time. ThEN, I was going to post it yesterday, but "last minute editing" turned into "rewriting about half the chapter" so it took forever lmao. Anyway here it is at long last, pls enjoy

Jane has made a conquest.

 

At least, that’s what Mrs Bennet claimed. But, to her credit, she didn’t miss the mark by _too_ much. Jane and Bingley had seen each other a few times in the couple weeks following their first meeting, and each of those times, it was more and more obvious that Bingley had the major hots for her. 

 

Mrs Bennet revelled in this fact, so much, in fact, that she’d actually made up with Mrs Lucas, as she wanted to be at their next party to proudly point out how much preference Bingley showed for her daughter (she, of course, left this out of her apology).

 

So, when the next Friday rolled around, all the Bennets found themselves at the Lucases house. Jane was happily chatting to her “conquest” (and proving her mother's point in doing so), Lizzy was talking to Charlotte, equally as content, and Mary was playing piano, so that her younger sisters could dance. Mrs Bennet was carrying out her mission of making sure that all the other gossiping old ladies knew that the new resident bachelor belonged to her daughter.

 

“Don't they just look like a couple already?” Mrs Bennet cooed, in observing Jane and Bingley. 

 

Mrs Lucas nodded. Insincerely, of course, but convincingly enough. “Yes, yes, they look very cute.” 

 

“Don't they? I would be surprised if weren’t in a real relationship before Christmas,” Mrs Bennet boasted.

 

“I believe you must be right!” Mrs Lucas agreed, bitterly. 

 

The women’s daughters, meanwhile, were also discussing Jane and Bingley’s budding relationship, though in a little more depth.

 

“I see that Bingley is still very interested in Jane, Lizzy,” Charlotte commented, observing the two, who were standing a little behind Lizzy.

 

Elizabeth turned around to look at them as well, and turned back to Charlotte with a smile. “I’m very happy for her, Charlotte.”

 

“She does seem to like him a lot.”

 

“I think if they continue on like this, she might fall completely in love soon.” 

 

Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “And what about Bingley? Do you think he’s fallen in love?”

 

Elizabeth paused, checking up on them again. “Well, it’s obvious that he _likes_ her very much.”

 

“Then she shouldn’t leave him in any doubt of her feelings! She should really just ask him out already. They both like each other, and he doesn’t seem like the kind of guy whose fragile man-ego would be threatened by a girl making the first move.”

 

“And if he was, she’d be well rid of him,” Lizzy interrupted. 

 

“Exactly. But anyway, he seems like he gets pegged—”

 

“Charlotte!”

 

“—so he’s probably okay.”

 

“But you know how Jane is, she’s too shy to just ask someone out.”

 

“That’s true, but she could at least drop a few hints for him. I think the only people who are presumptuous enough to assume a woman is in love with them without her giving them any signs are entitled, misogynistic men, and as we just established, he gets pegged—” 

 

“Charlotte!!”

 

“—so I don’t think he would do that.”

 

“She does give him hints though, as much as her natural modesty allows her. If _we_ can see that Jane likes him, then he must be a real moron if he can’t figure it out, too.”

 

“Remember, Lizzy, he doesn’t know her as well as we do. And also, whenever they see each other, it's usually at social gatherings and such, so it’s impossible for him to be spending every moment with your sister, trying to figure out where her feelings lie. She’s going to need to speed things along a bit, if she wants to secure him.”

 

“Relax, Charlotte, it’s not like there’s any rush.”

 

“Lizzy, get your head in the game. He’s rich, good-looking – for a man, at least – and is actually a really nice person. Oh, and he probably gets pegged.”

 

“ _Charlotte!!!_ ”

 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if half the people in the town ask him out by the end of this week.”

 

“Alright, alright, your point is made. But no matter how many times you prove your argument, the fact still remains, Jane isn’t bold enough to do any more than she’s already doing. What do you have to say to _that_?”

 

Charlotte shrugged. “I guess you’re right. But I wish Jane luck with all my heart, and if _she’s_ not going to make a move, we'll just have to hope that Bingley will. I don’t think he gets much encouragement from his sisters.” 

 

“Or his friend,” Lizzy added.

 

Charlotte looked over at Darcy, who was watching their conversation.

 

“Darcy seems to look at you a lot, Lizzy.”

 

“I know, and I can’t imagine why, unless he means to scare me with his judgement. I wish he wouldn’t come to parties, he just makes everyone uneasy.”

 

Charlotte snickered.

 

“Actually, he did something really weird yesterday,” Lizzy admitted. “He seems to have found my Instagram, and liked a bunch of my posts, look.” She pulled out her phone, opened Instagram, and loaded up her notifications.

 

\-----------------------------------------------------

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**janebby** liked your post. _

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** liked your post._

 

_**williamfitzdarcy** started following you._

 

\-----------------------------------------------------

 

Charlotte’s eyes flicked from the phone screen, to Lizzy, to Darcy, staring at them from across the room, before she finally stated, “Well, I suppose only Darcy can tell us the truth about it, but if you want my valuable input, I think he has a crush on you.”

 

Lizzy scoffed. “Yep, and Shakespeare was a terrible writer.”

 

Charlotte only gave this remark a slight shake of the head.

 

Darcy himself was pretty lost. Usually what he did at parties was hide behind Charles or his sisters, but all the gossiping country folk were watching Charles like hawks, and Darcy was sure that if he was standing anywhere near him, he’d be a subject of gossip too, and that was the last thing he wanted. As for Caroline and Louisa, they were talking to Mr Lucas. Darcy didn’t want to be noticed by him, and roped into a five-hour-long conversation. His civilities seemed never-ending.

 

So, with nothing else to do, Darcy had contented himself with standing as far away from all the people as possible, and staring at Elizabeth. 

 

It was true, that the first time he saw her, he would have sooner died than called her pretty. But, of course, as soon as he told this to all his friends, he began to change his mind.

 

It had started with her eyes – those _gorgeous_ , dark, hazel eyes, which always seemed to sparkle with intelligence. Darcy, as a rule, tried to avoid making eye contact with _anybody_ , but for her, he'd make exceptions.

 

He had hoped that the realisations would stop there, but alas, no such luck befell him, and he gradually began to like everything about her. Her lips, her nose, her figure, her personality, there was nothing that he could use as an excuse to hate her. Well, except her family, of course. And her family was the safety net that he used to convince himself that he wasn’t in the deep, _deep_ sh*t that he obviously was.

 

Just then, Mr Lucas approached Darcy, much to his horror. It seemed that Caroline and Louisa had freed themselves from him, and he was now searching for a new target.

 

“What a lovely pastime this is for young people, isn’t it, Mr Darcy?” he asked, looking over at where Kitty, Lydia, and a few more of the party guests were dancing. “To me, it seems like there is almost nothing so refined as dancing.”

 

“Does it? To me, it seems like even a monkey could dance.”

 

Mr Lucas seemed taken aback by Darcy’s remark, muttering an, “Oh, yes, I suppose.” But he quickly recovered himself when he saw Bingley join in on the dancing, and said, with a smile, “Your friend is very good at dancing.”

 

“My friend has taken dancing lessons from the age of four. He aught to be good.” 

 

“ _You_ danced at my last party, and I thought you did it very well too.”

 

“I’m flattered,” Darcy lied.

 

Meanwhile, Lydia was getting pretty wild with her own dancing. She’d already bumped into about five people, and Elizabeth was getting a little worried.

 

“I think I should tell Liddy to calm down, before she breaks something,” she told Charlotte, before starting to make her way over to her sister. 

 

Unluckily, she passed Darcy and Mr Lucas on her way. Mr Lucas jumped on the opportunity.

 

“Eliza! Why are you not dancing?” he exclaimed. 

 

Before Elizabeth could respond, he grabbed hold of her hand, offering it to Darcy.

 

“Mr Darcy, what do you say to dancing with Eliza? I’m sure you can’t refuse to dance, when so much beauty is in front of you!”

 

“I’m not going to dance right now, Mr Lucas. Please don’t assume I come over here to beg for a partner,” Lizzy insisted, but before Mr Lucas could make any response, Darcy, much to her surprise, cut in.

 

“I’d be very happy if you would dance with me, Elizabeth.”

 

Lizzy doubted whether Darcy had ever been happy in his life. “Sorry, but I don’t feel like dancing.”

 

“Come, come, why not?” Mr Lucas persisted. “When you see that even Mr Darcy has no scruples, even though he dislikes fun in general!”

 

“Oh, Darcy’s just being polite.”

 

“Of course he’s being polite, for who could object to dancing with someone so wonderful as you, Eliza, eh, Darcy?”

 

Elizabeth could bear it no longer. She knew Mr Lucas meant well, but she only wished he knew Darcy’s real opinion of her: that she was “tolerable, but not good enough”.

 

“Please excuse me,” she said, hastily, before practically sprinting away.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Caroline thought this party was terrible. 0/10. Absolutely disgusting. 

 

She opted to go complain to Darcy about this, as he always had some valuable remarks to offer, and she had already heard all of her sister’s.

 

“I can probably guess what you’re thinking right now,” she remarked, as she approached him.

 

“Most likely not,” Darcy responded, barely even paying her a glance.

 

Caroline snickered. “You’re thinking about how unpleasant it is, to be at parties with this terrible company, and I agree wholeheartedly. They’re all so boring, but so chatty! They can talk for hours, but have absolutely nothing interesting to say! Oh, it’s and so presumptuous that they’re always assuming that you _care_ about the nonsense spilling from their mouths! What do you think?”

 

“If I’d been contemplating it for the whole party, I’m sure that I’d have something to say about it, but alas, my thoughts are much happier. I was just thinking about how beautiful a pair of fine eyes in the face of a pretty girl can make her.” He quickly added, “Sorry, that was a very hetero thing to say.”

 

“I’ll let it slide, no one can really help admiring girls. But may I ask whose eyes inspired these thoughts?”

 

“Elizabeth Bennet’s.”

 

Following his gaze, Caroline noticed that it was, indeed, turned on Elizabeth Bennet. She was talking to some person who Caroline hadn't been bothered to learn the name of, and as she laughed at something in their conversation, Caroline couldn’t help but think that Darcy had a point. Her eyes _were_ very fine, as was the rest of her face, in fact.

 

She mentally scolded herself for being a useless lesbian, reminded herself that no amount of beauty could counteract that terrible personality, and looked back at Darcy, in astonishment. 

 

“Elizabeth Bennet! I have to say, I’m surprised.”

 

After lingering for a few more seconds, it was clear that he wasn’t going to be saying anything else, and she slipped away again, extremely dissatisfied with the conversation.

 

Now that he was free from any and all persons who could attack him with chatter, Darcy gazed at Elizabeth for the rest of the night, and all the while, convinced himself that he wasn’t in love. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time u comment on this fic, a writer (me) gets their validation


	5. Mrs Bennet’s Little Lesson In Trickery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay SO, I had major writer's block this week so this chapter is vv sloppily edited, but I still wanted to post it now bc next week I'll probably be too busy playing with mermaids in The Sims 4 to write anything hdhfjsjfajaka. But anyway the main point is that this isn't edited very much so pls don't judge too hard thx
> 
> Also I know that the meme I used for the chapter title is like 2 years old but I love Lazytown memes so much like I'm p sure they're my favourites so don't @ me

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that going for a walk in the pouring rain is not a very good idea. So how did Jane Bennet, generally a pretty sensible and intelligent person, find herself doing just that?

 

It had been a pretty uneventful morning, until the fateful text arrived. It was over breakfast, as Lydia was rambling on about a cute boy that she met. The subject of Lydia’s numerous crushes was incredibly snore-inducing to everyone but their mother, and even her attention was diverted by the possibility of it being from her eldest daughter’s rich admirer, so poor Jane was instantly accosted by enquiries about it.

 

“Ooh, Jane, is that a text?” Mrs Bennet cried out, eagerly.

 

“Yes.”

 

“Is it from Mr Bingley??” Kitty piped up, wanting in on the gossip.

 

“Silly girl, of course it will be! Well Jane, what’s it about? What does he say??”

 

“It’s not from Bingley, it’s from Caroline,” Jane explained, with her ever-present patience of a saint. “She’s invited me to have dinner with her and Louisa. And you’re all going to be quite disappointed when I tell you that she also says Bingley and Darcy going to be out, so they won’t be joining us.”

 

Lydia shot Jane a ‘that’s gay’ sort of look, and Jane responded with a glare.

 

“Oh, that’s very unlucky!” Mrs Bennet exclaimed, not seeming to notice what had passed. “But still, you should go, and make what you can of it.” 

 

“Can I borrow the car this evening, or is anyone using it?”

 

Just as she finished her sentence, Mrs Bennet’s face lit up with an idea, which was never a good sign. “Oh, no, no! You must walk there, because it looks like it’s going to rain, and then you’ll have to stay the night!”

 

Jane's cheeks reddened. “Mama!!”

 

Mrs Bennet ignored Jane’s exclamation, too busy checking the weather forecast on her phone. “Mhm, yes, there’s going to be a thunderstorm this evening. Perfect!”

 

“But— I— that’s— Mama, I can’t do that!”

 

“And just why not?? Would you go all the way to Netherfield and back, without seeing Mr Bingley? Of course not.”

 

Jane looked to her sisters for help, but Lydia and Kitty were just laughing at her, and Mary was too engrossed in her book to have heard any of the exchange. Lizzy was the only one who was actually of any assistance, insisting to their mother that this scheme was ridiculous. She would hear none of it, and no matter what her two eldest daughters tried to say to her throughout the day, Mrs Bennet was unmoving. In her mind, this plan was quite flawless: Jane goes to Netherfield, can’t walk home because there’s a thunderstorm, Mr Bingley invites her to sleep in his own bed for the night, she comes back home engaged. Simple. 

 

Therefore, when Jane left for dinner, it was, indeed, on foot, and surely enough, the downpour started before she was even a quarter of the way the street. And so, here we are. Thankfully, the lightning held off until she was safely inside.

 

Lizzy looked out the window, anxiously. Jane had texted her when she arrived at Netherfield, so Lizzy wasn’t worried about her getting caught in the storm, but she had also revealed that she got pretty wet, despite her umbrella, and Lizzy hoped that she wasn’t going to catch a chill. 

 

Sighing, she wandered over to the couch, and sat down next to her English Bulldog, Mr Bennet. His name came from the fact that at every family gathering, she was inevitably attacked with enquiries about when she was going to get a boyfriend, and so she got Mr Bennet as a passive-aggressive ‘f*ck you’ to these demands. 

 

Mrs Bennet noticed her daughter's uneasiness about Jane, and tried to cease it a little by assuring her, “There, you see, Lizzy? Everything is going exactly according to plan.”

 

This didn’t help much.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

The next morning, Lizzy got a text from Jane. It was quickly announced to the rest of her family, as it contained the information that she had come down with a cold. She said that she couldn’t leave her bed much, that her kind hosts insisted on her staying until she was recovered, assured her family not to worry about her, but politely asked for someone to please drop off some clothes for her. 

 

Mrs Bennet was, of course, delighted by this news, and excitedly declared, “Oh, it was such a good idea of mine, sending her out in the rain!”

 

“I think I should go visit her,” Lizzy declared.

 

“Go visit her?? No, there’s no call for that, she’s perfectly fine as she is! I mean, she does need clothes, but I can drop them off when I take Kitty and Lydia to visit their friends. Speaking of which, you should go with them!”

 

“Oh, yes!” Lydia pitched in. “There’s more than enough to go around.”

 

“Not if you're gay,” Kitty murmured, bitterly.

 

Lizzy was insistent. “I know that Jane would want to see me.”

 

“Alright, well, I suppose I could drop you there, if you really want.”

 

“Oh, no, I’d much rather walk. It’s always so fresh outside after a storm.”

 

“Walk? With all the mud from the rain yesterday?? You won’t be fit to be seen!!”

 

“Well, I’ll be fit to see Jane, which is all I want!”

 

“Alright then, walk! But don’t look at me when they won’t let you in the door for all the mud on your trainers.” Mrs Bennet acceded, knowing that her daughter was too stubborn for argument. 

 

Lizzy rolled her eyes, and left to go get dressed. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE REASON I DIDN'T MENTION MR BENNET THE DOG BEFORE THIS IS BECAUSE I ONLY HAD THE IDEA FOR HIM AFTER I'D ALREADY POSTED THE FIRST CHAPTER AND THIS WAS THE FIRST OPPORTUNITY I HAD TO PUT HIM IN THAT DIDN'T SEEM FORCED (or maybe it seems forced idek what writing is anymore) 
> 
> *insert usual request for comments here*


End file.
